Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to chair an all-party meet with leaders of Jammu and Kashmir next week, reports quoting sources said on Saturday.
The move is counted as a first step towards resuming stalled political activity in J&K after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
“The Central government has reached out to mainstream parties in the Valley for a meeting next week to discuss the delimitation exercise or the process of redrawing constituencies in the Union Territory,” reported The Indian Express.
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti Friday confirmed to the newspaper that she had received a call to join a meeting with the “top leadership” in New Delhi on June 24.
“But it was not confirmed if all members of the mainstream coalition — the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) — would join the meeting,” the report added.
The meeting could mark the first step towards conducting Assembly elections.
This comes after Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha held a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in Delhi.
The agenda of the meeting between Sinha and Shah was developmental issues and the current situation of the Union Territory.
In August 2019, the Centre abrogated Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and also bifurcated the erstwhile state into two union territories – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019 was notified by the government on August 9, 2019, paved the way for the creation of two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir, which will have a legislature and Ladakh, without it.
The Act provides that the number of seats in the legislative assembly of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir shall be increased from 107 to 114, and delimitation of the constituencies will be determined by the Election Commission.
